Meeting You Under Ugly Circumstances
by scriptblossom
Summary: [a series of one-shot prompts] You're the guy who kept parking right in front of my house. So I snapped and went ahead and keyed your car. Except... you caught me. Dang it.
1. keying your car

**Meeting You Under Ugly Circumstances**

_Inspired by a set of "meet ugly" prompts on tumblr posted by tokiosunset. Decided to post on here because I really love these prompts!_

* * *

**Prompt:**_ "You're the bastard who keeps parking right in front of my house so I retaliated by keying your car and you caught me"_

* * *

**o1. keying your car**

Sakura pulled down on her blinds as her eyes narrowed at the sight before her. The same car again. A sleek black Lexus parked right in front of her house. And it was blocking her driveway for the third time this week.

She questioned the driver's parking skills. Was it a old granny who couldn't tell that the car was five inches off the mark? Was it a dumb teenage kid who purposely parked in such a way to just piss her off?

Sakura knew what to do. The right thing would be to just call a tow truck and have the company haul that car away. She had let it slide the first time before since she wasn't in a need to move her car out. The second time, she did call the tow company and the car got ticketed and was moved. It caused her to be late to work.

She didn't believe that there would be a third time after having towed the car away before. Yet, here she was. Looking out her window and staring at the same damn car outside her house. She didn't even need to move her car now since she had nowhere to be. But it just irked her. That car. In HER spot.

And so the devil inside her was unleashed. She had a short temper and she could tell that towing did not mean anything to this car's owner. Something drastic had to be done. Sakura could see that the car was well maintained. It was washed and shiny and sparkly and made her lips curl up in excitement.

She grabbed her car keys and twirled it around her index fingers. It would really be a shame if something were to happen to that beautiful exterior of a car. Like if a random passerby with nothing better to do decided to key it. That would be such a shame.

Sakura could almost hear the cackling in her head. It would be sweet revenge. It would also be very wrong. Criminal activity. But by the time that thought entered her head, she was already halfway out the door.

She walked boldly to the Lexus, although her eyes shifted to and from as she scanned the street for any nearby witnesses to her impending crime. There was no one in sight which was expected given the quiet nature of her neighborhood. Even the ice cream truck ignores her part of the block.

With shifty eyes, she proceeded forward as she held out a key in her hand. She crouched down as she stooped by the wheel of the car. A glint filled her eye as she smiled evilly. She had barely dented the car with her key when she heard a voice above her.

"What are you doing?"

Sakura blinked in surprise as she glanced up. The sun was directly overhead so the light was blinding as she raised an arm to shield the light away from her eyes. She could see a shadowy figure and he did not look at all pleased.

Quickly, she gulped as she stood up. Hastily shoving the keys underneath the sleeve of her shirt, she placed her hands back behind her back. It didn't matter because he had already guessed at what she was doing.

"Were you going to _key _my car?" he asked as if shocked that such a thing could happen in broad daylight.

Sakura said nothing as her eyes stared down at the ground, particularly at the distance between her shoes and his. He had nice shoes. Sleek black dress shoes that matched his car. She had a worn out pair of sneakers on. Sneakers that could outrun his dress shoes to be precise.

But he must have heard her thoughts or maybe he saw her eyes shift to the left because he held out an arm to touch her shoulder. That made her react as she quickly shrugged him off and got into a defensive stance. If she hurt him now, she could always say it was self-defense. Judging from his spiked up locks and nonchalant face, he could easily be mistaken for a playboy. In her statement, she could just replace playboy with pervert.

"Calm down. I'm not going to hurt you," he said with a smirk.

She knew that. But he might change his mind when he found out that she had keyed the other side of his car first before she went over to the side that he was now looking at.

"If you excuse me, I'll be on my way," Sakura said quickly as she lowered her arms and began to walk around him. She couldn't head back to her house since she didn't want him to know where she lived. He didn't say anything but she could feel his eyes still following her. Just when she reached the end of her block, she made a right turn and then turned her head back to look behind her. What surprised her was that he was right behind her.

With a loud yelp, she screamed as she raised her arms wildly to scare him off and prevent him from coming any closer. He grabbed her and held her tightly and she was sure that he was going to knock her out at any moment to bring her to his stupid car and drive off with her in it.

"LET ME GO YOU PERVERT! HELPPPPP!" Sakura shouted. But it was useless because no one comes to her neighborhood and because it was lunch time, everyone was either at work or out for lunch.

"I'm not a pervert," he stated calmly as he stepped back and loosened his hold of her. "I was watching from afar earlier. You keyed the other side of my car."

Shit. So he did know.

She tried to run but he was still holding onto her. She frowned as she looked him in the eye. Not batting an eyelash, she held her gaze. "I'll pay for the damages I did to your ugly car," she said sweetly. She had slipped in the insult subconsciously and in a whispered tone but he heard it.

"You were the one who towed my car the other day, weren't you?" he asked. Or was it accused? She couldn't tell because he seemed to be smiling. But that could be the sun casting a glare on her eyes and making her see things.

"No," she lied.

"So you're not Haruno Sakura?"

Fuck. How did he know her name? Isn't there some confidentiality agreement with tow truck companies? They can't just announce who called in with a complaint! Eyewitness protection! Isn't that a thing?

"N-no… I don't know who that is."

"Well, do you live in this neighborhood?" he asked her.

Sakura blinked. She was confused. Shouldn't he be mad about her keying his car? Unless he wanted to know where she lived so he could come find her and then kill her in her sleep.

"No!"

"That's a shame. I thought we could be housemates if you were her," he said with a grin.

"Housemates?"

"I'm the new landlord of her place."

"Landlord?" she echoed. Her landlord was a sweet lady named Mikoto. Not this fearsome man with brooding eyes.

"Yes, my mother used to take care of things but she decided to let me handle it since she's going abroad with my father for a year."

"Your mother meaning Mikoto-san?" Sakura squeaked.

"Yes. I thought you weren't Haruno Sakura?" he asked in amusement.

"I wasn't," she answered in a mumble. "Please don't evict me," she pleaded. "I'm not crazy! I swear!"

"But you keyed my car. And call it in to tow."

"It was blocking the driveway!"

"I was lucky that I could prove that the house belonged to me," he stated. "Although you keying my car…"

"I'm sorry. I was stupid and irresponsible and really petty!" Sakura hoped her puppy dog eyes actually worked because she was using it to her full advantage.

"You're right. You were all of those things. I should really be evicting you for being crazy…but I won't."

"Why?" Sakura wanted to bite her tongue off. She should just be grateful he wasn't thinking such thoughts.

"Because my mother likes you… and you're kinda cute."

Sakura wasn't sure if she heard the last part correctly. "What?"

"I said you're cute!" he practically shouted. "Geez, crazy woman!" He turned to stomp off back in the direction of his car. She followed along as she walked behind him, in a bit of a starstruck moment.

"So why were you parked outside the house this whole time?" she asked.

"I wanted to check out the neighborhood before I decide to move in."

"You're moving in?" she asked as she stopped suddenly.

"The first floor bedroom is vacant, isn't it?"

Sakura nodded. That meant she would have to rethink Naked Sundays. Not that she walks around the house naked. But there goes her opportunity to do so.

"It's dangerous for a girl to live all alone," he commented.

"This neighborhood has literally no one walking by," she argued.

"That's why it's dangerous. Even when you screamed for help, no one came," he argued back.

"Are you offering your protection services?" she asked, her eyebrows raised and her arms crossed.

"No," he mumbled. "You keyed my car."

"Right, which I apologized like ten times for."

He smiled as he looked at her. "I take my apologies in the form of dinners."

She scoffed at him. But he was her new landlord. And he wasn't suing her for keying his car. Because in her stroke of craziness, she found someone crazier than her. She rather liked it. Maybe he would do Shirtless Sundays and walk around in nothing but a towel.

A girl can only dream.

* * *

She realized that dreams could come true.

It was bad. Real bad. Worse than her keying her landlord's car. Because that would only get her maybe a slap on the wrist and a hefty fine. It wouldn't cause her massive heart attack. Like the one she was having right this moment sitting in the living room with her bowl of Frosted Flakes.

Because someone sound the alarm. Uchiha Sasuke was shirtless. And it was only a Saturday. She had asked for Shirtless Sundays. Saturday was good enough.

It had only been two weeks since her landlord had decided to move in to the vacant bedroom on the first floor of her home. She was weirded out by the fact at first since he was a) her landlord b) too hot for the average Joe and c) she had keyed his car.

But surprisingly he was either more crazy or insane than she was because he didn't hold it against her. He didn't even make her pay for the damages to his car even after she offered to pay to fix it. She had only offered once though and she didn't try to bring it up anymore after his first rejection because she was poor and had rent to pay. He obviously had enough money from whatever inheritance he had so she didn't feel the least bit ounce of guilt for what she had done.

In fact, she felt very proud of herself. Like deserving of a pat on the back. Because the feast on her eyes was worth every bit of keying his damn black Lexus. She should stop staring and return to her TV screen that was playing an old rerun of some soap opera drama that she didn't know the name of. Truthfully, she was watching an informercial earlier on but had switched to another channel when she heard Sasuke come out of his bathroom. She didn't want him to think she was a loser with nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon than watch informercials about kitchen appliances.

"Sakura?"

"Y-Yes!" she yelped in surprise as she glanced away from the TV screen to look back at Sasuke. Sasuke in nothing but a towel. Oh lord, help her now.

"Do you understand Spanish?" he asked.

"No.. why?" _Muy sexy. _That meant very sexy. So she did remember something from her Spanish classes back in high school. Go figure.

"The show you're watching is in Spanish…"

Sakura turned back to look at her TV screen again. It was a soap opera show but everyone was speaking in Spanish. She must have accidentally switched to the Spanish-speaking channel.

Embarrassed, she quickly pressed on the remote to change the channel again. Only this time, she made sure to pay attention to the channel as she landed on a game show. "Y-yeah… I was trying to practice my Spanish but guess I don't remember anything from high school," she mumbled.

Sasuke walked past her to sit down beside her on the couch. Only he was practically naked given how small the tiny, blue towel was that was wrapped around his waist. Sakura was going to hyperventilate if he moved any closer to her.

"Shouldn't you change?" she asked, her eyes still fixated on the TV screen because she was worried where else her eyes would wander if she looked anywhere else.

"I forgot I was doing laundry so everything I have is still in the dryer. I have to wait 40 minutes before I can get a clean shirt," he responded.

40 minutes of either pure bliss or pure torture. She couldn't decide. She picked torture. Because her landlord was not sitting naked next to her. Nope. Her landlord was practically hovering near her with his full on nakedness. She should have keyed, smashed, and destroyed his car. Then she wouldn't be stuck in this situation. Probably, she'll be in jail. But very, very far from his naked body.

"You can borrow one of my volunteer shirts if you like. They're large on me so they should fit you," Sakura offered as her eyes watched a contestant spin the big wheel on the Price is Right.

"Oh, like this one you have on now?" Sasuke asked as he leaned over to tug at the oversized shirt that Sakura was wearing.

His touch made her shiver. She had to do something. Like get herself evicted or something because another minute alone with him would drive her up a wall. He was purposely doing this to her. She knew it. This was his revenge for keying his car. He was purposely nice about it so that he can walk around naked in his house and disturb his tenants until they went mentally ballistic and pounced on him from raging hormones. Then he would accuse her of sexual assault and have her evicted from the house.

It all made perfect sense now in Sakura's head. This was Sasuke's master plan of getting back at her. This was for her keying his car and then calling him a pervert. Ooh, he was a clever man.

Sakura turned her head sharply as her gaze pierced through him. "I know what you are trying to do. I'm not going to fall for it. You can seduce me all you want but I won't be falling for your irresistible body. Nope. So you can go ahead and forget about charging me for sexual assault because I'm not going to touch a single atom on your body." She crossed her arms and leaned back comfortably against the couch as if she made her point.

It was silent for a minute except for the soft sounds coming from the TV with pinging and excited shouts from the contestant that had just spun a 100 on the wheel.

"You really are crazy," he finally said after a moment.

Sakura then realized that she really was. What in heaven's sake was she thinking? Did she really just accuse him of trying to seduce her? He was just being a normal human being and watching TV on his couch. And he liked to do so while half-naked. But only because all of his clothes were in the laundry. A perfectly reasonable excuse. Sakura was beginning to think that maybe she really did need to seek help.

"I'm sorry. Please don't evict me," she pleaded.

"You say this to me every single day, Sakura," Sasuke said with a sigh.

"I'm sorry."

"So do you really think I'm irresistible?" he asked.

"N-no," she lied.

She was kidding herself. She really was.

"I think you're pretty irresistible yourself."

That was the last straw. She didn't care anymore. He could evict her if he wanted to. But she was going to do what she had been thinking about all week.

Sakura moved her body towards him as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply on the lips. She was scared that he would push her away but when he didn't, she was surprised. In fact, he reciprocated the kiss and then began to move on his own as his hands ran through her hair and caressed her exposed thigh that was barely covered by her gym shorts.

She knew where this was leading to but she didn't care. As he leaned on top of her, she could hear the soft sound of his towel dropping to the floor. She moaned into her kisses as his hand slid underneath her shirt.

Hm, she could be wrong. They probably could have Shirtless Saturdays and Naked Sundays.


	2. hitting you with my car

**Meeting You Under Ugly Circumstances**

* * *

**Prompt:** _"I hit you with my car and was the only one to visit you in the hospital"_

* * *

**o2. hitting you with my car**

"Oh bloody hell!" Sakura cursed to herself as she waited at yet another red traffic light. She could have sworn that all the lights were turning red just for her that day. Not only was she late to work, she was also running on very low caffeine. That made her feel groggy and lacking focus at the wheel.

Finally, she turned and reached a residential area only to be met with about a dozen red stop signs glaring down at her. Angrily, she stepped on her gas pedal. She could risk rolling past all the stop signs. With a glance behind her, she saw there was no police car nearby.

She would later regret her decision when she turned back around and had to press down hard on her brakes when she saw a guy stepped off the curb to cross the street. Only, she didn't brake fast enough as the front of her car rammed into him.

Sakura stared wide-eyed out the window. She did not just hit a guy. She must have been imagining it. As she got out of the car slowly, she braced herself for the worst. Walking to the front of the car, she saw a guy her age lying down on the ground and groaning really loudly. Thankfully, he was still alive. Unthankfully, he was real.

"Fuck," she cursed under her breath. "Are you okay?" she called out to him, a bit worried but mostly freaking out inside. She couldn't get back into her car and drive off anymore since he had seen her. Her pink hair would easily be recognized in a police lineup. Curse her good looks.

* * *

By the time the ambulance came, Sakura was sure she should just call in sick for work because there was no point in going anymore. Though she did need whatever money from her job to pay for the impending lawsuit she might be facing if the guy wakes up to sue her. Sakura groaned. Her day went from worse to just plain living hell.

She wondered if visiting the guy in the hospital will do any good. His family members or loved ones might just gang up on her and she might just end up walking right into a lawsuit. Or maybe they'll pity her and see that she is just a poor, college student with huge student loans and will not be able to pay them back even if she were to sell her body to the devil. The latter option seemed viable so Sakura opted to go to the hospital to show her deep concern as well as convince them to not sue her for all she's worth.

* * *

When she arrived at the hospital and went up to his room, which was 301, she was surprised to see that there was not a crowd of people waiting outside to see him. Figuring that they were all inside, she knocked and heard no response. Quietly, she opened the door just a crack to peek in and saw that there was no crowd inside either. Just a lone guy lying on the bed with his eyes closed.

Sakura walked in and carefully went up to the patient lying on the bed. He was fast asleep and she could hear his soft breathing and see the rise of his chest with each breath against the thin layers of the sheet he was covered under.

He was beautiful in the way a god would look like if a god ever descended down from the heavens to earth. She couldn't tell if he was a model or not but she sure hoped he wasn't because that would definitely lead him to suing her for damaging his perfect body. She hoped his legs weren't insured or something. Unconsciously, she reached out a hand to brush back a strand of hair that had fallen over his eyes. When he stirred a little from her touch, she quickly backed away.

It was unwise to stay any longer. Sakura decided it was best to leave. There was no crying mother to console or stern father to bat her eyelashes at. There was no point in staying. Unless her being the only person there to see him would be any factor of warming his heart and making him realize that it was all just an honest mistake.

Still, she had her doubts so Sakura turned to leave.

"Hey."

Sakura froze in her tracks as she heard his voice, a silky smooth voice from a guy who just got hit by a car. She slowly turned and saw him look over at her. His head was turned towards her as his eyes stared lazily up at her face.

"You're not the nurse, are you?" he asked.

Sakura shook her head.

"So what are you doing in my room?" he questioned.

"I'm the girl that hit you with my car," she replied. Later, she cursed at herself for being so honest. Now he knows what she looks like.

He seemed to have took a moment to register what she just said and when he did, he bursted out in laughter. The loud sounds of his laughter rang through in the silent hospital room and Sakura only watched, dumbfounded.

"Can't believe you would return to the scene of the crime," he remarked as he calmed down from his laughter.

"The crime scene was two miles from here, technically," she muttered.

"What's your name?" he asked.

Sakura hesitated as she bit her lower lip. He would find out eventually when he saw the accident report. "Sakura…"

"It's a shame we had to meet this way, Sakura."

"I'm sorry about hitting you! I really didn't see you! I mean I did, but I guess I didn't react in time. It was totally my fault. I was speeding so I'm sorry!" she blurted out. She would really need a lawyer. She had just confessed all of her sins to him.

He smiled. "It's fine. The doctor said I would be okay and just have a cast for a week."

"You're not upset? I mean, I basically ruined your whole week," Sakura asked, surprised how nonchalant the guy was.

"Meh, guess I can skip out of Orochimaru's boring Biology lectures," he said in response.

"You go to Konoha University as well?" she asked as she walked up to him and pulled up a chair to sit down.

"Yeah, I'm a 4th year majoring in Molecular Biology. You?"

"4th year in Biochemistry," Sakura responded.

"Do you plan to be a doctor?"

"Yeah, except I seem to be creating patients rather than healing patients," she said with a bitter laugh.

He laughed. "I'm Sasuke. I want to be an ophthalmologist."

"Why isn't your family here to visit you Sasuke?"

Sasuke gave a sad smile. "They passed away when I was a child."

Sakura blinked twice, unsure of what to say. "I'm sorry to hear."

"When you hit me with your car, I saw my life flash before my eyes. And I thought that I would die with no one to see me or even care. But somehow, it's nice to know that the person who hit me would be the one to care to visit me," he said.

Sakura bit her lip. "Honestly, I came 'cause I was afraid you would sue me."

Sasuke laughed again. "Shit, maybe I should."

"Please don't!" Sakura protested. "I have no money!"

He thought about it for a moment. "How about if I don't sue you but you would still agree to see me and take care of me for the rest of the week?" he proposed.

"Of course!" Sakura exclaimed. "I mean since it was my fault and all. I can drive you to classes and pick you up from wherever and get you groceries!"

Sasuke turned to look up at the ceiling. "Can you cook?"

"I'm okay. I can make a great Lean Cuisine," she joked.

"Make me dinner tonight then. When I get out of the hospital this afternoon."

Sakura smiled. It was ironic that somehow her hit-and-almost-run turned into a somewhat dinner date. "Deal."

* * *

**Part II**

Sakura knows she should be wary of going to a stranger's house all by herself. It was not good practice and highly not recommended for any girl of her age and quite frankly, her mother would probably throw a fit if word got out.

But the guy was in a cast and a wheelchair and Sakura was sure she could take him if he tried anything. Or at least, she would be the faster runner. So that night, when Sasuke got released from the hospital, she came back to see him and found out that he lived only a short distance away from the hospital.

She brought him to his house and made him dinner as promised. It was the Lean Cuisine she had picked up from the store earlier and she would have tried to look for something better but she was sure she didn't want to add food poisoning to the list of crimes she had already committed towards him. Running him over with a car was probably enough.

He seemed amused by her choice in dinner although he made no comment and silently ate all of his meal. Dinner was quiet for the most part but she didn't mind because she spent a good half hour staring at his face when she was sure he wasn't looking.

* * *

He did notice. Every five minutes or so, she would peek up from her plate and stare at him in awe and then glance away quickly when he reached for his glass of water. He was amused at her behavior and more so at how she really did tell the truth about how she made a mean Lean Cuisine.

She was interesting in the way that she was not intrusive and never pressed him for details about his life. Yet her eyes sparked curiosity and he could tell that she was observing him intently and gathering all intellect in that brain of hers. The wheels in her head were practically turning at each movement he made as her inquisitive eyes followed his every action.

That in turn made him curious about her so he did the unthinkable in asking the first question. The first followed with an answer which prompted a second question and soon they were chatting away after dinner and into the night.

* * *

He didn't speak much but each word held an impact as she listened to his sentences that were phrased short enough for the length of a yawn yet said everything it needed to. What she learned about him was not through his words but his every subtle movement or gesture he made. The expressions on his face and the tone of his voice told her everything.

He was smart and calculative and clearly quite intellectual. It impressed her as much and fanned the flame in her heart. She was sure that somehow she had fallen quite hard.

And so the night ended and continued to the next. Long before she knew it, a week had come to passed.

* * *

"Well, this is the day your cast comes off," Sakura said as she wheeled him inside the hospital. It was a bittersweet moment as she realized that this was her last chance to see him again. At least, the last chance she has at having a reason to see him. "You can finally go wherever you want for dinner," she said, half-jokingly.

"No more Lean Cuisines," he murmurs.

"Sorry, having it every single day was a bit much, wasn't it?"

"Not at all."

Sakura couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not but she decided to let it slide.

* * *

She didn't have to wait for him to come out but she did. He didn't ask her to stay but he didn't tell her to go either. When he came out, she was surprised at how tall he looked. It didn't help that he was so tall because that only made him even more attractive to her.

She supposed it was a good time to say good bye and go their separate ways. He could walk now although he had this awkward step that was probably still adjusting to the fact that he could walk again.

"Well, you look well," she commented.

"Thanks. It's nice to be able to look over your head now," he replied with a smile.

"I guess you take care of yourself now." Sakura clasped and then unclasped her hands as she fumbled with the hem of her shirt. "Don't run into any more crazy drivers like me," she joked but no one seemed to be laughing.

She turned around, as she was sure that awkward goodbyes were not her thing and it was best to just leave now before she further embarrassed herself by saying something stupid. But he didn't let her as he caught her by the wrist.

"Where are you going?" he asked with a raised brow.

"Uh…"

"Are you hungry?" he asked when she gave no answer.

Sakura turned, surprised that he was asking her if she was hungry. "I guess…"

"Good, 'cause if you try to buy another Lean Cuisine tonight, I'll personally run you over with my car so that I can make sure that you eat something else besides that."

If this was his way of flirting, Sakura did not see it. But she smiled anyways because it still sounded sweet and endearing to her ears. "What do you suggest?" she found herself saying.

"We can get groceries at the market and then I'll cook you some actual food."

"Do not insult my Lean Cuisines," Sakura warned.

Sasuke smiled. "Fine. They have some redeeming qualities, I guess. They did bring us together each night," he remarked.

Sakura chuckled. "No, my car brought us together. That, and your lack of peripheral vision."

"You mean _your_ lack of peripheral vision," he corrected.

"Potatoes–tomatoes—" she said with a shrug.

"Tomatoes are good. I'll put that on our grocery list for tonight."

* * *

_edit:_ Thank you anon for clarifying the difference between optometrist and ophthalmologist! I truly didn't know! *mindblown*


	3. hyperventilating beside you

**Meeting You Under Ugly Circumstances**

* * *

**Prompt:**_ "This is a five-hour-long plane ride, we're sitting together and you're deathly afraid of flying"_

* * *

**o3. hyperventilating beside you**

"Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Happy place. Happy place," Sakura repeated again and again to herself as her hands gripped the edge of the armrests on each side of her. She didn't even care that her arm was extending out to the other side of the seats. The passenger seated next to her can deal with it. She had bigger things to worry about. Such as surviving through this ordeal of a five-hour plane ride.

Sakura groaned as she took another deep breath. She has been through worse things than this. She was a medic and had seen all sorts of gruesome and terrifying things. She had seen death before and it wasn't pretty. But she faced it like any doctor would and dealt with it as calmly as possible.

But in her seat at this very moment was a woman far from calm. Sakura could swear she was already beginning to hyperventilate. She wished she had never agreed to take on the surgery request of Sunagakure's famous Gaara. It wasn't even a surgery for Gaara but his brother, Kankuro.

Sakura wriggled in her seat as she glanced at the seat next to hers. She was in the aisle seat and the empty seat next to hers was a window seat. She couldn't figure out if window or aisle was better but both seemed equally terrifying to her in any case.

When she booked it, she had made sure to pick a seat next to an empty one. Sitting next to someone would either make her very queasy or would in turn, make the other person queasy when they see her. Sakura was beginning to regret her decision. Maybe she should have asked Naruto to come along with her so that at least Naruto could distract her with some lame joke of his. But she tossed out that idea when she remembered that Naruto was also the one who would crack bad airplane jokes at the worst moment possible, thus entitling him a big punch to the face.

Sakura was beginning to feel antsy. Maybe she should have someone sitting next to her. In the case that the plane burned and crashed, at least the person next to her might try to save her when she is frozen in fear. She was beginning to regret picking the seat besides the empty window seat.

But those regrets disappeared when someone coughed above her and she glanced up to see the most gorgeous guy her eyes ever laid eyes on. He gestured over to the seat and Sakura immediately shifted her legs to the side so that he could squeeze through.

He sat down and Sakura could smell his cologne and it smelled heavenly. Much like the place she would be going to if she were to die. Unless God had other plans for her and wanted to send her to the pits of hell for skipping today's church service to get on a plane. The guy turned around and stared at her and she stared back into his beautiful obsidian eyes.

"You're taking up my space," he stated as he pointed to the armrest.

"Oh! Sorry!" she quickly apologized as she moved her left arm away so that he could claim back his part of the armrest.

She continued to stare at him and it must have made him uncomfortable because he removed the earphones from his ears and stared back.

"Are you okay? You're kind of hyperventilating right now," he said.

Sakura blushed as she glanced downwards at the armrest. "Yeah, sorry," she muttered. "Kind of have this thing about flying."

"What? You're scared?"

"No," she lied. "Yes," she admitted after awhile when he didn't seem to believe her first answer.

He stuck out his hand as he offered one half of the earphones to her. "Listening to music sometimes can calm down your nerves," he offered in suggestion.

She took the earpiece gingerly in her hand as she stuck it in her left ear. The music that was playing was not what she was expecting. The sounds of waves crashing gently against the shore and birds chirping sounded in her ears.

"This was what you were listening to this whole time?" she asked in disbelief.

"It's relaxing. Now close your eyes and don't speak," he ordered.

So she did. It was relaxing. It almost made her feel like that time at her dentist's office when she was staring at the overhead light as her dentist chatted on about his dog and the sounds of nature played over the speakers in the small dental office.

Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep on his shoulders as the plane began to take off.


	4. walking shamefully next to you

**Meeting You Under Ugly Circumstances**

* * *

**Prompt:** _"We met each other on a Sunday morning, both doing our walk of shame" _

* * *

**o4. walking shamefully next to you**

Sakura groaned as she squinted at the early morning sunlight that seemed more like a flashlight shining directly into her eyes. She sat up and realized that she was not where she had hoped to be, which was cozy and warm in her own bed. Instead, she was behind some dingy, old couch surrounded by seven red plastic cups.

She stood up awkwardly as she stumbled a little while trying to find her phone and what remained of her dignity. She couldn't find either and decided that it was not worth it to remain any longer in that house. She was at the frat house of some fraternity she couldn't remember but only stumbled into last night when she was returning from the bars and had decided that one more drink was going to be fine. One was not fine. In fact, she took several more shots and finished a game of beer pong all on her own.

Walking over to the doorway, she found her heels and decided to just bust out of the house without another look back. She could get a new phone since her old phone was a crappy flip phone that didn't even have a QWERTY keyboard. As for her dignity, she was sure it was never going to return back to her. Not after the stunts she pulled last night which she could still clearly remember even though she was sure she drank enough to forget.

Honestly, she wasn't sure why she went crazy last night. Sure, she went through a phase of dating the wrong guy and getting her heart broken. But did she really have to cover his apartment in toilet paper and then head over to the frat house to make out with his best friend? After all, her ex couldn't do anything about being gay. It wasn't really his fault. But someone should probably inform him that his best friend was not gay but bisexual given the intense make-out session she had with the bff last night.

Her eyes squinted against the bright sunlight that hit her directly as she stepped out of the house. No one was in sight which was just as well because Sakura didn't want anyone to see her while she did her walk of shame back to her apartment ten blocks down from frat row.

That was until someone came out of a neighboring frat house with only his pants on and no shirt in sight.

"Fuck," he cursed out loud when his eyes met hers.

Sakura couldn't help but laugh at the situation. "Walk of shame?" she asked. By now, she didn't even care. Who was he to judge her, right? He was half-naked for crying out loud. At least, she still got her clothes on. Sakura smirked. Well, if she didn't know it, she could have sworn that her dignity came crawling back to her just now.

The guy grunted as he dropped the pair of shoes he was holding and slipped his feet into them. He said nothing as he started walking. Only Sakura happened to be going the same way. For the next half block, she awkwardly followed behind him as they crossed the street over to the next block.

He glanced behind him as he looked at her. "People are going to think we did something together last night if you keep following me," he said.

Sakura looked around her. "I don't see anyone out here. Do you?" she asked.

He kept quiet as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "What's your name?"

"What's yours?"

"Sasuke."

"Sakura."

Sasuke smirked. "Sakura, eh? Pink hair as well? Well, I'll be."

"Sasuke, huh? No shirt? Male prostitute?" she shot back.

He smiled. "As a matter of fact…"

"Don't answer that," she said as she continued on her way towards her apartment.

"Do you live near here?" he asked as he ran to catch up to her.

"No. Stop following me," she said as she tried to ignore him.

"You were following me first," he said with a grin.

"That's only because your house was one house closer to the end of the block. So sue me," she said with a frown.

"You're crabby when you're up early," he remarked.

She stopped. "Well, sorry if I don't want to make light conversation while I'm dressed like this."

"Like what? I think you look beautiful despite being awake at 6 in the morning with your heels in your hand as you walk barefoot."

"Likewise, male prostitute Sasuke," she said with a wry smile.

"Doesn't your feet hurt from walking barefoot?" he asked as he glanced at her bare feet.

"No more than it is to walk ten blocks in heels," she replied.

He stopped as he held out a hand and placed it on her shoulders to stop her. "Here," he said as he slipped out of his shoes and pushed it towards her feet. "Wear mine."

"Why?" she asked as she stared dumbfounded at him.

Sasuke reached out to run his fingers through her pink tresses in order to comb it out as he fixed up her shirt which was slightly lopsided. He took a hold of the heels in her hand as he held it for her. "That way, for the next ten blocks, we'll look like a runway model couple rather than two people doing the walk of shame."

"That's ridiculous," she told him.

"As ridiculous as me inviting you for breakfast?" he asked.

"Maybe. What are you going to feed me?"

"Bacon, hash browns, and eggs," he replied.

"Okay, but your shoes are too big for me. I'll trip and die before I make it there," she pointed out.

He grabbed a hold of her hand. "We can walk slowly."

Sakura smiled. So maybe the walk of shame wasn't so bad after all.


	5. reading the same book as you

**Meeting You Under Ugly Circumstances**

* * *

**Prompt: **_"You saw me reading the same book you did and we got into a heated discussion on how much it sucks" _

* * *

**o5. reading the same book as you**

Sakura wanted to reach into her brain so she can personally pull out her eyeballs from the inside and crush them because she couldn't believe she was still reading the same trashy romance novel for the past hour. She should really put it down but she just had to see what the big hype was all about. She still couldn't really understand it but she supposed it was mainly due to the strange obsession women had for men with helicopters.

But her greatest shame was that she couldn't even read the book in public because she didn't want to be known as one of those girls. As in those girls who only read books because it was either a) made into a movie or b) was part of Oprah's book club or sometimes c) it was all anyone could talk about. Sakura's choice was made due to the latter option when she went to her Sociology class which was made up of 90% girls and the only thing that her group could stay on topic about was about the novel.

Sakura had no idea what anyone was talking about and she just stared at the blackboard as her group mates went gushing on about helicopters and the male protagonist's collection of ties. Like what? Is this a novel or a magazine spread?

So because Sakura didn't want to be left out of her group discussions anymore, she decided to download a copy of the book illegally because she sure as hell was not going to be caught in her local bookstore purchasing a trashy romance novel.

By chapter three, Sakura was ready to cry. The entire story was flawed in more ways than one and she didn't even know if there was a plot line or if it was some crack fan-written work that the author just made up to fill up pages. By chapter eight, Sakura had ran out of coffee to drown her tears in. Sitting in the back corner of her local coffee shop, she was ready to dig a small hole through the wall to crawl out and find where she left her dignity. Because she was sure the novel had sucked it away.

That was when Sakura finally glanced up from her laptop to look at the surrounding customers. She was afraid she was silently making a scene because she had accidentally let out several frustrated sighs and gargled mumbo-jumbo during her reading. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a gorgeous guy with dark ravenous locks that gently swept over one eye. His eyes also happened to be a dark obsidian color that matched his hair. And he was reading the newspaper.

She smiled to see how intellectual he looked sitting in the coffee shop with one leg crossed over his other leg as he held the folded newspaper in one hand. Except, the newspaper was upside down.

She coughed in surprise and didn't realize how loud it was and how it seemed to be aimed directly at him because he glanced up from his newspaper and stared back at her. She continued to gape at him with wide eyes and finally he spoke something to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, concerned seemingly but most likely not.

"Y-yes," Sakura stuttered. "Sorry," she muttered as she returned her gaze back to her laptop.

He nodded and returned to his supposed reading of the New York Times. "Helicopters," he murmured. "Pfft."

Sakura's ears picked up his soft voice and she could have sworn that was a strong hint of sarcasm from his tone. Was he reading what she thought he was?

"Are you reading 50 Shades?" she blurted out.

The guy turned to look at her and for a moment, she thought he was going to cuss her out or something for assuming or asking such things. He didn't but he smiled as he burst out into laughter.

"I guess you caught me," he admitted in shame.

Sakura didn't know how to reply but she began to laugh along with him. "I am too…unfortunately," she admitted as well.

"God, it sucks doesn't it?" he commented.

Sakura nodded. "Terrible!"

"Yet, I don't know why I'm still reading it."

Sakura sighed in agreement. "It is a page turner… but god, I just want to kill myself as I read it."

He laughed. "Maybe it won't suck as much if we talk about how much it sucks?" he suggested.

Sakura chuckled. "What chapter are you on?" she asked.

"Barely getting through nine."

"Oh, you're ahead of me," Sakura said.

"If you're wondering if it gets better…it doesn't," he remarked.

"I can't believe you actually went to the bookstore to buy a copy of the book," she teased as she pointed to his book that was barely hidden by the newspaper now that he was caught.

He grinned. "As if. The nanny of the kids I was babysitting left it in my car." Glancing over at her table, he noticed that her cup of coffee was empty. "How about I buy you a cup of coffee and we get out of this place and see the outside world that is a much better place than the hellhole in this book?"

She smiled. "Just one thing," she said.

"What?"

"We go find a bonfire by the beach and burn that atrocious book."


	6. breaking into your apartment

**Meeting You Under Ugly Circumstances**

* * *

**Prompt: **_"You broke into my apartment drunk thinking it was your friend's house and I should call the cops but my cat kinda likes you so we're good" _

* * *

**o6. breaking into your apartment**

Sakura heard a thud from outside her bedroom and immediately, her eyes flew wide open as she sat up in bed. Glancing over at her alarm clock, she saw that it was nearly 3 in the morning. That was not a good time for anything so either her cat had knocked over something in the kitchen or she had an intruder in the apartment. As she looked over to the edge of the bed, she saw that her cat was not sleeping at the end.

Still, taking no chances, Sakura grabbed the stick of wood she keeps under her bed. It was supposed to be one of the parts for her bed frame but she didn't know where it was supposed to go in the process of building her bed frame so it ended up being stored under the bed. Now it made a good weapon as anything.

Slowly, she crept out of her bed as she walked to her bedroom door which was usually kept ajar since she hated having closed doors when she slept. With a slow and steady hand, she opened the door slightly wider. She wondered if she was silly to be so cautious since she lived on the third floor at the end of the hallway of the apartment building. Unless, the kind grandma next door turned out to be a villainous thief, Sakura saw no reason for any sane person to come to her apartment door to rob her.

Sakura lowered the wooden stick in her hand as she boldly stepped out of her bedroom and walked through the living room. She found her cat mewing on top of the kitchen counter and she saw her fruit bowl had fallen to the ground. Breathing a sigh of relief, she dropped the stick in her hand to the floor as she reached out to pick up her cat.

"Silly Sir Whiskers, what are you doing out here in the kitchen instead of in bed with me?" she purred to her cat as she stroked its fur coat with her free hand. Her cat seemed to have other intentions as he pawed at something in the air. Sakura turned to look in the direction her cat was pointing at and only screamed when she saw the sight.

A guy was lying on her white couch with his legs propped up on the armrest of the couch. When Sakura screamed, however, he was awoken from his slumber as he almost fell off the couch in shock.

She looked around for the stick she just dropped on the ground as her cat leapt out of her arms after hearing her scream. Seeing the wooden stick near her, she reached over to grab it as she swung it above her head to get the proper aim for the intruder.

"Wait! No!" he shouted as he held up a hand. Her cat jumped on him and Sakura was about to praise Sir Whiskers for defending the household with his mighty claws when the cat began to mew and purr on his lap.

The guy held up the cat to her as if it was a peace offering.

"Damn you Sir Whiskers!" Sakura hissed at the cat. She looked at the guy and narrowed her eyes. Even though it was dark, her eyes had already adjusted to the darkness and she could see that the guy looked to be around her age. He also didn't look threatening by the way he was holding his cat with a soft smile at the corner of his lips.

"Drop the cat," she ordered as she pointed the stick at him as if that was threatening enough. She was sure he could overpower her if he wanted to since he looked to be over 6 foot tall and had a killer body frame. If he wasn't a perpetrator breaking into her apartment, Sakura would have sure fallen head over heels if she had seen him elsewhere.

He did drop the cat and Sakura shuffled her feet towards the phone near her couch. Sir Whiskers continued to purr as he landed on his feet on top of the guy's chest and continued to mew as he made himself cozy against the guy's sweater.

Sakura frowned. Sir Whiskers never acted that intimately with her. And she was the owner for crying out loud. Sir Whiskers wasn't the friendliest of cats either and would often hiss and scratch at strangers. Even people who are frequent guests would get the claw. It was the reason why her friend, Ino, never stopped by at her apartment anymore.

"He likes you," she said, dumbfounded with her mouth slightly ajar in astonishment.

"Sorry," he said as he got up from the cough and held on to the cat. "Are you Naruto's girlfriend?"

"Who?" she asked, confused at such a question. In fact, why was he asking questions? It was her place!

"This isn't Apt 401?" he asked, confused.

"No, it's 301. 401 is up another level."

"Oh."

Sakura suddenly realized the situation. The guy confused her apartment for his friend's place. She sniffed the air around him as she grabbed her cat. He had the scent of alcohol on him but it wasn't too overpowering. "You're going to get my cat drunk," she muttered.

"Sorry, I must have stepped into the wrong house since I am a bit drunk," he apologized as he began to laugh quietly.

She didn't know what to say to that. It was probably her fault to even not lock her door. She just had assume that usually no one comes near the end of the hallway on the third floor since a grandma lived next door and the apartment across from her had been empty for weeks.

"No, I'm sorry for trying to kill you with my stick," she said stiffly as she clutched her cat tightly. Sir Whiskers was continuing to try to wriggle out of her grasp and finally she allowed him to jump out of her arms as he crawled back to brush its fur against the guy's legs.

"Your cat seems to like me," he commented as he bent down to stroke its fur.

"Weird," she muttered as she bent down to give the evil eye at her cat but Sir Whiskers did't even seem to bat an eye towards her. It was then that she noticed how close in proximity she was from the guy.

"What's his name?" he asked.

"Sir Whiskers," she replied softly.

"Ah, cute. Sorry, I should probably leave. I'm sorry for bothering your sleep and your cat."

But she didn't want him to leave. At least, not yet.

"Wait, are you going to be okay? You still seem a little drunk," she said as she watched him stumble a little in the dark.

"Oh, sorry. I can't find my keys. I must have dropped them somewhere," he muttered as he patted down his pants pocket but came up with nothing.

"You can sober up here while you look for your keys. I'll make you some tea."

"I don't want to bother you. It's already 3 am."

"And I'm already wide awake," she said with a shrug.

She walked over to the kitchen to start the kettle as she flicked on just one of the lights so that the area was dimly lit enough so she could see what she was doing.

"Oh, your hair…" the guy said as he stared at her.

"Oh, yeah it's pink," she said as she reached out to touch a strand of her hair before laughing gently. "Surprised, huh?"

"It's pretty. Like your cat." he said as he picked up Sir Whiskers and allowed the cat to lick his face.

"What's your name?" she asked as she blushed slightly and turned around to get a saucer for Sir Whiskers.

"Sasuke. Yours?"

"Sakura."

Her heart pounded profusely against her chest as she tapped her fingers impatiently against her arms while staring at the tea kettle. Soon enough, it was done boiling and she brought it over to the living room. She poured two cups of tea and handed him a cup as he took it graciously.

She placed the saucer on the ground and Sir Whiskers jumped down to lap up some water. It was silent as she sipped at her own cup of tea but did so slowly because the tea burned the tip of her tongue.

"So you're a cat person?" he asked her and she glanced up and nodded.

"You?" she asked, hoping to hear he was the same.

"Yeah, I used to have a cat when I was little. My brother and I would play with the neighborhood cats a lot too."

Sakura smiled. "That's cute," she said. It was silent again as they just sort of stared at each other with a dumb smile on each of their faces. To quickly change the subject, she asked him about his keys. "So your keys… what do they look like?" She then wanted to smack herself on the forehead because what else would keys look like?

He looked at her and smiled warmly as he set the cup of tea down.

"I have to be honest with you. I actually didn't bring any keys with me out today," he admitted.

"Oh."

"I just wanted to spend an extra ten minutes talking to you. But I probably overstepped my boundaries by now."

Sakura laughed as Sir Whiskers jumped on to the couch and curled up in the spot that was between her and Sasuke.

"My cat likes you so I think it's best if you stay a bit longer. He gets cranky when he's disturbed," Sakura murmured.

"Well, I wouldn't want that," he replied. His arms were resting against the top of the couch and his arms were long enough that he could almost reach out to touch Sakura on the shoulders.

He did accidentally brush his fingers against her shoulders but she didn't seem to mind as she smiled and held on to her cup of tea.

"So why the name Sir Whiskers?" he asked as he gazed into those beautiful emerald eyes of hers.

"It's a long story," she began.

"I have all night."


End file.
